Demonstration of real biomass gasification drastically promoted by effective catalyst Original Research Article

The gasification of cedar wood using highly efficient Rh/CeO2/SiO2(60) catalyst and air as a gasifying agent has been investigated in a continuous feeding fluidized bed gasifier at low temperatures (823–973 K). Regarding the carbon conversion and syngas formation, Rh/CeO2/SiO2(60) catalyst exhibited much better results than conventional Ni and dolomite catalysts, and the non-catalytic process. The performance of Rh/CeO2/SiO2 was very dependent on the loading amount of CeO2; in this case 60% CeO2 on SiO2 was the most suitable. In the case of the most effective catalyst, Rh/CeO2/SiO2(60), no severe deactivation was observed even in the longer reaction time (4 h). The catalyst developed in the cellulose gasification is also applicable to the gasification of real biomass (wood powder).